Abstract:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical fiber that can provide a desired dispersion and that can also provide a suitable dispersion slope at a small optical loss.SOLUTION: Various embodiments described include optical fiber designs and fabrication processes for ultra high numerical aperture optical fibers (UHNAF) having a numerical aperture (NA) of about 1. Various embodiments of UHNAF may have an NA greater than about 0.7, greater than about 0.8, greater than about 0.9, or greater than about 0.95. Embodiments of UHNAF may have a small core diameter and may have low transmission loss. Embodiments of UHNAF having a sufficiently small core diameter provide single mode operation. Some embodiments have a low V number, for example, less than 2.4 and large dispersion. Some embodiments of UHNAF have extremely large negative dispersion, for example, less than about -300 ps/nm/km in some embodiments. Systems and apparatus using UHNAF are also disclosed.
Abstract:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a modular, compact and widely wavelength tunable laser system of efficiently generating high-peak ultrashort pulses.SOLUTION: System compactness is ensured by employing efficient fiber amplifiers, directly or indirectly pumped by diode lasers. Peak power handling capability of the fiber amplifiers is expanded by using optimized pulse shapes, as well as dispersively broadened pulses. Dispersive broadening is introduced by dispersive pulse stretching in the presence of self-phase modulation and gain, resulting in formation of high-power parabolic pulses. After amplification, the dispersively stretched pulses are re-compressed nearly to their bandwidth limit by implementing another set of dispersive delay lines. To ensure a wide wavelength tunability of the whole system, Raman-shifting of the compact light sources of ultrashort pulses is implemented in conjunction with frequency conversion in nonlinear optical crystals. Further, positive dispersion optical amplifiers and Raman amplifier fibers are utilized.
Abstract:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To convert relatively long pulses from repetition frequency variable ultrafast light sources to shorter, high-energy pulses suitable for application to high-energy ultrafast laser systems.SOLUTION: A system comprises: a microchip laser 71 outputting pulses in the range from 50 ps to 10 ns; a fiber 72 with positive group-velocity dispersion (GVD) and self-phase modulation receiving an output of the microchip laser 71; and a compressor 73 receiving an output from the fiber 72 with positive GVD.
Abstract:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fiber chirped pulse amplification system with high productivity, which has high pulse stretching ratio and compression ratio.SOLUTION: A polarization holding air clad fiber includes: a core region; a material clad region which surrounds a core; an air clad which substantially surrounds the material clad region; and a layer which surrounds the air clad. The polarization holding air clad fiber is provided in which the fiber polarization holding operation is attained by forming stress induced birefringence in an air clad fiber and assembling a stress formation region completely disposed inside the material clad region and completely surrounded by the material clad region.
Abstract:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fiber chirped pulse amplifier system allowing good productivity with large pulse stretching ratios and compressing ratios.SOLUTION: The chirped pulse amplification system comprises a seed pulse source to generate a short optical pulse, a stretcher to stretch a pulse, and a plurality of chain-wise coupled polarization maintaining fiber sections, where at least one of the polarization maintaining fibers is an amplifier.
Abstract:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To compensate third-order dispersion in chirped pulse amplification systems.SOLUTION: By compensating polarization mode dispersion and chromatic dispersion in photonic crystal fiber pulse compressors, high pulse energies can be obtained from all-fiber chirped pulse amplification systems. By inducing third-order dispersion in fiber amplifiers via self-phase modulation, the third-order chromatic dispersion from bulk grating pulse compressors can be compensated and the pulse quality of hybrid fiber/bulk chirped pulse amplification systems can be improved. Finally, by amplifying positively chirped pulses in negative dispersion fiber amplifiers, low noise wavelength tunable seed source via anti-Stokes frequency shifting can be obtained.
Abstract:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a chirped pulse amplifier (CPA) in which the problems and limits of conventional technology are solved. SOLUTION: The CPA system is equipped with: a mode-locked laser; a polarization holding beam router that is coupled with an output-terminal of the mode-locked laser and that has a first and second output terminals; a polarization holding dispersion compensation fiber that is used for stretching pulse and that is coupled with the first output-terminal of the polarization holding beam router; a first amplifier that is coupled with the polarization holding dispersion compensation fiber; a first pulse selector that is coupled with the first amplifier; a faraday rotator mirror that is coupled with the first pulse selector; and a second amplifier that is coupled with the second output terminal of the polarization holding beam router via a beamsplitter. Input pulse that is inputted into the polarization holding beam router by the mode-locked laser is reflected by the faraday rotator mirror, is returned to the polarization holding beam router, is outputted from the polarization holding beam router and entered into the second amplifier. The first pulse selector is equipped with an integrated modulator with an optical waveguide. COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT
Abstract:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide focusing optical system combined with steering optical system, and an imaging apparatus using the light collecting opticcal system for efficient and speedy imaging of a target using an extended terahertz electromagnetic wave range challenged by weak electromagnetic wave sources and low sensitivity of detection, and also to provide an efficient detecting method for electromagnetic wave in combination with a speedy imaging speed. SOLUTION: A rastering imaging apparatus is demonstrated without moving the target or the entire imaging system by properly locating an optical system to utilize angular conversion of beams to a lateral scan. A mirror-lens set is used to steer the terahertz (THz) beam along and (or) to collect the THz beam from each point of the target. The target is imaged with a much higher speed than when moving the target or the entire imaging system. A THz wave image can be taken in video frequency for practical usage of each apparatus in varieties of application fields where it has not been considered to be feasible. COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT
Abstract:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide optical fibers which can provide a desired dispersion and can also provide a suitable dispersion slope with a small optical loss. SOLUTION: Various embodiments described include optical fiber designs and fabrication processes for ultra high numerical aperture optical fibers (UHNAF) having a numerical aperture (NA) of about 1. Various embodiments of UHNAF may have an NA greater than about 0.7, greater than about 0.8, greater than about 0.9, or greater than about 0.95. Embodiments of UHNAF may have a small core diameter and may have low transmission loss. Embodiments of UHNAF having a sufficiently small core diameter provide single mode operation. Some embodiments have a low V number, for example, less than 2.4 and large dispersion. Some embodiments of UHNAF have extremely large negative dispersion, for example, less than about -300 ps/nm/km in some embodiments. Systems and apparatus using UHNAF are also disclosed. COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT
Abstract:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical switch for generating ultrashort optical pulses of variable or adjustable wavelengths from a single light source for outputting ultrashort optical pulses of a fixed wavelength. SOLUTION: An OSSM 24 directly sends ultrashort pulses of 1.55 μm or the like to any one or some of WCCs from a UPL 10. Control of ultrashort pulses from an input port of the OSSM 24 to an optional WCC is performed by using either one of an electro-optical method and an acoustic-optical method. Fig.12 shows the use of 1×3 optical directivity coupler 60 for distributing input radiation light to any or all of output ports. A pulse of 1.55 μm wavelength is sent to an optical waveguide formed by TI, PE or TIPE on a ferroelectric substrate such as lithium niobate or lithium tantalate. All waveguides have cross sections of the same width designed so as to perform single mode propagation at a light source wavelength. A branching condition is determined by applying voltage V1 or V2 to the 1×3 optical directivity coupler 60. COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT